I Will Always Be There for You
by Strike26
Summary: Naruto has always wanted to be with the woman that he has desired since he was a kid and now he may finally have the chance that he has been waiting for.  Will Sakura let him be the one to protect her or will this end up a shattered dream.
1. Accepted

**I do not own Naruto, but I wish I did. Oh by the way this story will deviate from the actual arc.**

Accepted

Throughout his entire life Naruto had dreamed of being accepted; accepted by the village, his peers, and most importantly the woman he loved. After his defeat of Pain Sakura had started to see him for who he really was, a man that truly cared for her and would do anything to protect her. Several months later Naruto decided to try and ask Sakura out on a date yet again.

It was a bright day in Konoha and Naruto had high hopes for his plan to ask Sakura out. After several hours of searching he found Sakura looking at a fruit stand examining some apples. "Hey Sakura want to go out for some ramen at Ichiraku's?" Naruto braced for the pain that usually accompanied his attempts at asking Sakura out.

"Sure Naruto, I would love to."

"Really Sakura?" He could not believe that this would be the time that the woman that he loved would give him a chance. "How about tonight at 7? I will come get you at your apartment."

"That works Naruto, I can't wait." Sakura started to turn around and glanced over her shoulder, "Wear something nice ok, said Sakura with a coy smile on her lips. As she walked down the street Naruto wanted to pinch himself, this had to be a dream. With his head full of ideas on how to impress Sakura, Naruto ran back to his apartment to prepare for his date.

_7:00 pm _

Naruto was outside the door of Sakura's apartment when suddenly the door opened right in front of him. "Hey Naruto you are looking good." Sakura had on a nice red dress that went down to her ankles.

"Thank you Sakura," Naruto had on a black suit with an orange tie. "Are you ready to go?"

"Sure am Naruto." As Naruto turned to head towards he felt something grip his arm. Sakura had placed her arm through his. This caused a blush to appear in Naruto's face.

"Lead the way Naruto."

**Well I know that this was short, but I planned this to be more of an intro. I am thinking of making this into more of a romance fic rather than action but I am not sure. Reviews are welcome thanks. **


	2. The Date

**I still do not own Naruto.**

**Here is the next chapter. Thanks to all of you who checked out the last mini chapter. I know that there was not much to it but I promise that this one will have more substance. Enjoy**

The Date

The date so far had been a major success. After arriving at Ichiraku's, which had expanded its store to include more of a dining area; Naruto and Sakura were seated at a table looking out at the Hokage statue. While they were both waiting for their food Naruto decided to try and make his move on Sakura.

"So Sakura, how has working at the hospital been? I know that Granny Tsunade has been having you work pretty hard." Sakura finished drinking her water and smiled at Naruto. She knew what he was trying to do and she found it cute.

"Well things have been pretty busy since we had that land slide outside the village. There were many people injured and I have had to work overtime three times this week." As Sakura was talking Naruto could not help but notice the way that her eyes shined as she spoke about her work. He knew that even though she talked about how hard her job was, she truly loved what she did. "Naruto? Are you ok?" Naruto realized that he had been staring at Sakura the whole time that she had been talking.

"Sorry Sakura, I just spaced out that's all." Soon their food arrived and they both sat in silence for what seemed like forever for Naruto. He knew what he wanted to tell Sakura, but he could not think of the proper way for him to tell her how he felt.

"Is everything ok Naruto; you aren't being your normal hyperactive self. I know that I usually give you a hard time about how you are always being loud and obnoxious, but I have realized lately that your constant optimism is one the things that I love about you."

_Did she just say love?_ Naruto could not believe that he just heard the girl of his dreams had just said that she loved something about him. "Did you just say that you loved something about me?" This caused Sakura to smile and think to herself that it was about time that Naruto knew the truth.

"Well, I guess that I did. The truth is Naruto that I have been keeping a secret from you for a while now…" Sakura paused for a second; she knew, like Naruto, what she wanted to say, but she did not know how to say it. The truth was that she had started to realize that she cared for Naruto more than she did for her other friends. This feeling made her want to be with him when he went out on dangerous missions so that she could protect him. "Ever since you defeated Pain I have wanted to tell you that I…"

Suddenly the ground began to shake and screams could be heard nearby. "What was that?" said Naruto. A column of smoke could be seen near Ichiraku's. Suddenly a member of the Anbu appeared in front of the two Konoha ninja, his wolf mask hid his face from view, but both Naruto and Sakura both could tell that he was on edge.

"The Hokage has requested your presence in her office immediately" said the Anbu

"What is going on? What was that explosion?" questioned Naruto. At this point he was starting worry since the explosion was so close to where they were.

"There is no time; you must get to the Hokage now." In a puff of smoke the anbu disappeared.

"Come on Naruto we should get to Tsunade-sensei, maybe she knows what is going on." They both leapt out of the dining area and started to run along the roof tops. As they were running Naruto looked over at the column of smoke and he could not help but notice that a figure within the smoke.

"No. It can't be." Within the column, was Sauske!

**Well I hope this is a descent cliff hanger. I decided to add some action to this story and the villain is going to be Sauske, because he is a douche bag. (Sorry for any Sauske fans out there). Please review since this is my first story in a while. Hope that everyone enjoyed this chapter.**


	3. Confrontation and Confession

**Hey everyone, I know it has been a long time coming but here is the next chapter. I still do not own Naruto. **

**Confrontation**

The haunting red glow of the sharingan stared out at Naruto causing him to pause mid jump and stumble. "Sakura it is Sauske, he is the one leading the attack."

"What are you talking about Naruto?"

"Over there Sauske is in that column of smoke." Naruto pointed to the place that he had seen Sauske and was shocked to see that nothing was there. "He was just there I swear Sakura."

"We do not have time for this Naruto we need to report to the Hokage to help get the counter attack organized." Naruto followed Sakura to the Hokage Mansion. "Lady Tsunade we are here. What do you want us to do?"

"I need you and Naruto to go to the training field near the Hokage memorial, the enemy was seen heading that way by our Anbu squads. This enemy must be eliminated at all cost."

"Lady Tsunade, may I ask why we should not apprehend the intruder instead of killing him? It seems this way we could get more information out of them."

"That would normally be true Sakura but this enemy is unique. The enemy that you two are going to eliminate is Sauske Uchiha." Both of the shinobi were stunned, especially Naruto even though he had seen Sauske he had secretly tried to hold out hope that his former friend was not responsible.

"Naruto?" Sakura put a comforting hand on her friends shoulder. "Even if it is Sauske you know that we have to do. Sauske has killed dozens of people and he needs to pay. I will be right beside you so don't be afraid to draw on my strength." Sakura didn't know where that speech had come from but it felt right to her, it felt right in her heart. Naruto nodded but otherwise remained silent. After some last minute questions Naruto and Sakura departed for the training ground. After arriving at the training ground both the shinobi noticed that something was off, where were the Anbu that were supposed to have been following Sauske? Suddenly both of the shinobi heard a whistling sound and just barely managed to move out of the way of three kunai.

"Well I guess your skills aren't as crappy as I thought loser." Naruto and Sakura looked up to see Sauske standing atop a tree. "Maybe this fight will be more fun for me than fighting those pathetic anbu." Suddenly Sauske disappeared and reappeared behind the two leaf ninja slashing at them with his sword (this is Shippuden Sauske at the beginning); the sword cut straight through Naruto who turned into a puff of smoke, "a shadow clone?"

"Rasengan!" Sauske looked to his left and saw Naruto flying towards him with a Rasengan in each hand. Naruto swiped at Sauske with the his left Rasengan, but Sauske dodged it; however as he turned around for a counter attack he was hit square in the stomach with the other Rasengan sending him flying straight in to another tree. "Take that you traitor. I will not let you hurt my Sakura or anyone else that I care about."

"Did he say his Sakura?" Sakura felt her heart skip a beat at hearing Naruto saying that and then it came to her, "Naruto loves me and I think that I love him too."

As Sakura was thinking off to the side (this is mainly a Sauske Naruto fight) Naruto walked over to Sauske who was lying on the ground "So, you think you have won? You can't beat me Naruto I am an Uchiha and am therefore more powerful than a loser like you."

"No Sauske, you are wrong. I am stronger than you because I have something that I want to protect. You desire nothing but power and that is why you lost."

"You think I have lost, ha, I have not lost yet. I may not be able to beat you, but I can still take away what is most precious to you." In flash Sauske was over by Sakura… with his sword stabbing her straight through her stomach.

"Sakura!" Naruto yelled as the woman he loved fell to the ground blood flowing from her wound. "I will kill you Sauske." Naruto charged at Sauske with a Rasengan the size of his whole body. Sauske moved to block but Naruto disappeared in a flash of light

"Where did he go?" Sauske looked around for Naruto.

"Die Sauske!" Naruto slammed the Rasengan straight onto Sauske's head. After the dust settled Naruto could see that Sauske's body was in pieces. He quickly ran over to Sakura. "Hang on Sakura we will get you to a hospital and everything will be ok." Tears were now running down Naruto's check as he picked up Sakura.

"Naruto, I love you" said Sakura before she passed out from her injuries.

"Did she just say she loved me?"

**So that is the next chapter of the story I hope that you all enjoyed it and I am sorry for the shortness of the fight, I am not good at writing fight scenes. Reviews are appreciated and I will update with the last chapter of the story. **


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